Unknown aircraft type (August 1944)

[Denniss]

Ever heard of the extended wingspan Do 217s intented to carry Hs 293?
They should have had ~24.5m wingspan if my memory serves right

[mjbollinger]

Not so fast

The wingspan of the Do 217 K-2 was 24.5m, not 19m. The wings were lengthened to allow high-altitude operations with the Fritz-X.

There were only a handful left by August 1944. I can try to track their movements to see if any might have been near where the photo was taken. I think it unlikely -- but you never know. I seem to recall that in mid August 1944 the surving elements of III./KG 100 relocated from Toulouse to Giebelstadt airfield near Würzburg, which puts them pretty far from the presumed location of the photo.

<Subsequent edit...>

Sorry - Denniss. You got there first -- our messages overlapped. But it was the Fritz-X, not the Hs 293 that the K-2 carried. It was the E-5 that carried the Hs 293, though the K-3 and M-11 could carry either.